Kim Jones, the designer who reinvented Louis Vuitton’s menswear

On his departure from the label, here are five things to know about the man

The British-born talent’s departure from Louis Vuitton – where he brought in blockbuster collaborations with the likes of Supreme – sets into motion another round of fashion musical chairs. Here are five things you may not know about the outgoing designer…

Kim Jones, Louis Vuitton’s men’s artistic director of seven years, will step down from his role this week. “It has been a huge privilege to work with Kim,” said Michael Burke, chairman and chief executive of Louis Vuitton in the statement confirming the designer’s departure on Wednesday morning. “His ability to set trends is impeccable and his talent and determination have ensured that Louis Vuitton is firmly placed as the leading brand in luxury menswear today.”

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Since joining Vuitton in 2011, Jones ushered in a new fashion identity that pushed the boundaries of the storied luggage brand without alienating existing customers – no simple task – and turned out collection after collection of directional menswear. He pre-empted the mass adoption of streetwear silhouettes and motifs long before “athleisure” became a bonafide trend, and was the creative force behind blockbuster collaborations with Supreme, Fragment Design, and British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman.

The fashion world is already eagerly speculating his next move, with creative director vacancies at top fashion houses like Burberry, Céline and Versace yet to be announced. Here are five things you may not know about the British talent…

He had a nomadic childhoodBorn in London in 1979, Jones and his family led a globetrotting lifestyle thanks to his father’s work as a hydrogeologist. First came Ecuador, followed by Africa and the Caribbean, instilling in him a deep appreciation for different cultures and travel — two things he often references in his collections. “Growing up in Africa, living with little lizards, snakes and elephants or being chased by baboons — it never really goes away,” he told The New York Times in 2011. After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2002, he launched his eponymous label, known for its streetwear aesthetic. In 2008 he gave it up to become creative director of Dunhill. Louis Vuitton came calling three years later.

He’s a collector

“I have a collection of more than 500 sneakers in my personal archive,” he told Designboom in 2016. “I keep them all in my house in London, and many in my cupboards in Paris. I have a lot of Jordans, and Huaraches because when they originally came out, I bought them in bulk because I loved them so much.” But beyond trainers, he also has a penchant for vintage fashion, as he told AnOther, with an “exquisitely preserved collection” that includes club kid staples from Vivienne Westwood, Stephen Linard, Rachel Auburn and Modern Classics, as well as Issey Miyake and Jean Paul Gaultier and – Jones’s all-time favourite – Christopher Nemeth.

John Galliano spotted him early on – and upset him a little, tooEver the auspicious talent, Jones nabbed the attention of John Galliano while he was still a student. “He bought half my graduate collection,” he told The Guardian. “It was a big deal, I guess, but I didn’t realise at the time. I was just upset because I wanted one of the jackets he bought for myself; it was hard to make and I didn’t get to keep it.”

He’s happy to put “all his eggs in one basket”Speaking to Drapers on the eve of his appointment at Dunhill London in 2008, Jones said how happy he was to renounce his own label: “This is what I always wanted to do. People don’t realise that I never really wanted to have my own label, I just fell into it.” Echoing a similar statement in 2013 with British Vogue, he said: “Why would I want to do my own label when I can do fantastic things here [at Louis Vuitton] and put my spin on things? As a designer, the things you can do at Vuitton are second to none. In LVMH, they are very respectful of the designer, you are a special person in the company. You can’t be that naive about the world, you have to get on with stuff.”

His HR file most likely has him down for shouting — at HR“There’s a lot of hierarchy in a lot of houses, and they see a high turnover,” he said to Fashionista, speaking about the importance of nurturing staff. “I don’t really like to have too much change in the studio. My right hand’s been with me for 10 years and she’s really, really good. If I’m not there, she knows exactly what I like, and she can say yes or no. We have stagiaires [interns] that come, and if they’re really good, I’ll go up to the CEO and say ‘I want to keep this person, because I know they’ll be a valuable member of the team.'”

What is more, he fights to ensure they are paid fairly: “When I started, we did four collections a year, and now we do 12. It’s a lot. I do expect my team to get paid to do 12 collections, not four. So I will go and shout at people and make sure that HR realises, you know, you can’t expect extra work for free. That’s just important. Probably if I do have an HR record at work, it would be for shouting at HR, because they do get a call quite often.”